She goes, I was told, by many names: Lady Of Shadows. Holy Girl. Lady of the Night. The Skinny Lady. Santa Sebastiana. Frowned upon by the Church and the upper classes, worshiped secretly for centuries by the working classes, Santa Muerte has become the patron saint of the downtrodden.

Having closely monitored the development of Saint Death's burgeoning cult on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, I had expected a condemnation by the Vatican, although I am somewhat surprised that it came before any such statement made by U.S. bishops.

The confluence of theological concerns, religious competition, new Latin American influence at the Vatican and media coverage have resulted in Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi's condemnation of the cult of Santa Muerte as the embodiment of Latin America's "culture of death."

Having lived, studied and traveled in Mexico for almost 30 years, I can personally attest to the intimate and familiar nature of death in popular culture. Long before Saint Death's public outing 11 years ago today, images of death personified abounded.